1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of heart monitoring, and more particularly, to a device, method and system for determining and outputting in real-time the heart rate of a patient.
2. Description of Related Art
Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with heart monitoring devices.
One example of a heart-monitoring device is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,210,344, issued to Perin, et al., for a method and apparatus for passive heart rate detection. Briefly, this reference teaches a method and apparatus for measuring the heart rate of a patient, which includes a hollow bell mounted on a diaphragm. A transducer element is positioned to receive sound transmitted through the diaphragm, convert the sounds into electrical impulses, and transmit the electrical impulses to a microprocessor. The electrical impulses have real-time wave patterns corresponding to the real-time wave patterns of the original sounds. The microprocessor performs mathematical operations on wave pattern data conveyed by the electrical impulses to determine a numerical value corresponding to the frequency of the wave patterns. This numerical value is sent to a digital output and displayed thereon.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,969, issued to Bredesen, et al., discloses an intelligent stethoscope. This intelligent stethoscope is used for performing auscultation and for automatically diagnosing abnormalities based on body sounds wherein the body sounds are received, digitized and stored in memory. The body sounds are recorded from a plurality of locations on the body, and all of the sounds are categorized according to specific characteristics to form a matrix of information. The generated matrix is then compared against a plurality of stored matrices using a technique similar to analysis. Each of the stored matrices contain information indicative of known abnormalities such as specific heart murmurs, lung abnormalities, etc. When a matrix match is found, the diagnosis is displayed on an LCD display formed in the body of the stethoscope. The LCD display is also capable of displaying a visual representation of the recorded body sounds.
Still another prior art reference, U.S. Pat. No. 4,436,096, issued to Dyck, et al., discloses a portable digital heart rate meter/stethoscope. This prior art reference discloses that electrical signals corresponding to heart sounds detected by a pulse/sound transducer are filtered in a narrow band pass filter, whose pass band is centered on a characteristic heart sound frequency of 33 Hz. The filter improves signal-to-noise ratio and enables the transducer to be used over a patient's clothing. The unfiltered signal is amplified and fed to binaural leads to provide the function of an electronic stethoscope. In addition, the filtered signal is converted into pulses in response to which a count corresponding to the detected heart rate is established in a counter and displayed as a digital heart rate indication.
While known heart monitoring devices are useful after baseline information has been attained, they are not useful when time is of the essence and only a hands-on auscultation is reliable. Furthermore, such known heart monitoring devices do not allow the entire medical team to have a comprehensive awareness of the medical condition of the patient in an immediate and reliable manner.